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While social interaction has proven to be a major factor in improving cognitive health, other components of trivia, such as learning new facts and recalling older information, can also be significant, says Professor Scott Brown from the University of Newcastle.
"Practicing pub trivia helps maintain our cognitive reserve, which is especially important as we age because it can provide a buffer against cognitive decline and other forms of dementia. It's the 'use it or lose it' notion, where if we keep doing these activities to work our cognitive muscles, it keeps them from atrophying early," he explains.
Professor Brown adds that the rewards of getting questions right, or even better, winning, can boost your mental health, and the dopamine rush can be both rewarding and motivating to learn more.
So let's dive straight in! Reddit user Own_Championship7862 made a post on the platform, asking everyone, "What's an unusual fact that most people don't know?" Since the replies have been pouring in, we decided to compile some of the most surprising ones and help you expand your knowledge.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Wearing white wedding dresses only came into fashion after Queen Victoria started the trend. White isn’t meant to have any other meaning or represent purity as many people think. Before this trend most brides just wore their best dress of any colour as it was expensive to buy a dress just for the occasion.
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#2
Pink used to be a masculine color.
During the height of the British Empire, the soldiers in the far reaches of the world donned their red coats in battle and patrol. The newer recruits would look especially sharp with a bold red color. The rugged war-heroes though? Their coats were faded and worn into more of a pink color. If you saw a guy wearing a pink coat, odds are they have stories to tell with a thousand yard stare. This became a desirable thing to show off your experience and grit.
Hence pink was associated with combat prowess and ruggedness, and became a masculine color during that time.
#3
The tongue of a blue whale weighs the same as a fully grown African Elephant
#4
I have recently learned that Lobsters don't display senescence which is the deterioration of the body as it ages. Their bodies are continuously growing and their exoskeletons get heavier and heavier, hence when they molt into a new exoskeleton it takes more and more energy to take off the old one. Eventually they die because one day they just go, "Yeeeeeaaaah sooo like this exoskeleton is too heavy so imma just go meet Lobster God and head out from the mortal world."
Now a thought... If a group of people helped a lobster shed it's exo- skeleton... And if said lobster kept growing... Technically, a giant lobster could be brought into existence should the lobster not die from old age.
#5
Each time I read a question like this I am reminded of this,
If you made 10,000 dollars everyday since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in August 2, 1776, you still wouldn’t wouldn’t have 1 billion dollars.
And it is just mind boggling!!
#6
The Korean people have an enzyme that makes us have dry ear wax and a propensity to lack body odor.
For the first 20 years of my life I had no idea why my earwax was flaky when everyone else's was more like a jam or paste and why I didn't have to wear deodorant.
I'm not saying that Koreans are immune from body odor but it is much less prevalent and requires much more disregard for hygiene.
#8
When basketball was first invented, at every game, they would have a man who would go up a ladder to retrieve the ball after every basket. It took them around 20 years to figure out maybe it would be a good idea to cut the bottom of the basket out to make retrieving the ball a lot easier. 20 years!!!
#10
I love when this question comes up because I get to talk about the thunder clappers.
When the Lewis and Clark expedition were exploring the west of North America, their diet of dried meat left them constipated. They were all taking these pills called thunder clappers to make themselves s**t. The active ingredient in thunder clappers is mercury, and historians can track the expedition because they left increased deposits of mercury in the soil.
#11
The male giraffe will continuously headbutt the female in the bladder until she urinates. The male then tastes the pee and that helps it determine whether the female is ovulating. If she is, it’s business time.
#12
For every single human being on Earth, there are 2.5 MILLION ants.
Yes, this means that there are about 20 QUADRILLION ants on this planet.
If the ants decide to take over, are you strong enough to handle the 2.5 million that you'll be responsible for killing? If you've got kids, you might have to kill more because a 2 year old isn't going to accomplish a god damn thing if millions of ants are marching towards them
#14
There are more tigers kept as pets in the USA than there are in the wild
#15
We are always seeing our own nose but the brain ignores it
Jill Rhodry 1 year ago
Yep, trying to convince my brain to ignore it now.
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randomhungryhamsterperson 1 year ago
looking my nose, just gone cross eyed and now i have a head ache
AndThenICommented 1 year ago
Apparently, my partner always sees his. He didn’t believe me when I told him the mind is supposed to ignore it. He has some slight tinnitus as well - I really envy how happy go lucky and observant he is despite these anomalies
Sky Render 1 year ago
It's easy to see your nose if you concentrate. Or, you know, just close one eye.
Nitka Tsar 1 year ago
Funny thing: my eyes have some problems. One of them is, that while my left eye sees ~100%, my right eye only gets 50%. This is why I cannot see these 3D pictures where the picture is black and white dots all over. I have other conditions too, which I don‘t know the english name of. Anyway: I always see my nose. But only with my right eye…. Hmmm maybe it‘s because my nose is crooked
Let’s Be Kind 1 year ago
I don’t know if this is accurate. Yes, most of the time, the nose is within the peripheral view, but if you look straight up, no nose.
Nikki Angulo 1 year ago
I told my student this on Friday! Because she had a pink sticker on her nose, lol.
Camilla Koutsos 1 year ago
Mine doesn't do this very well. I can't help wonder of this is an autistic thing.
Seth 1 year ago
You also have a blind spot slightly to the side of the middle of each eye's field of view. Your brain also ignores that and just edits in a copy of the background. To see where your blind spots are: close one eye and stare at a fixed point with the other. Point your index finger on the side of the open eye and slowly move your hand around until you find the point where your fingertip disappears. Google diagrams of you're having trouble finding it. It's really spooky if you've never seen this before.
Colleen Glim 1 year ago
I have children. You’d be amazed at the things I am capable of not seeing/hearing
Jumping Jellyfishes 1 year ago (edited)
I noticed mine a lot when I was a young kid. Was looking at it once when i was being lectured by mom. Yeah, that didn't go over well.
Michelle C 1 year ago
Once you become cognizant of being able to see your nose, though, your brain takes a while to ignore it, in my experience!
#16
A day on Venus (one complete rotation around its axis) is longer than a year (a complete revolution around the sun) on Venus.
#18
Iron is the most stable atom in the universe. When fusion in the sun's core 'burns', it fuses *up* the period table until it reaches iron. From that point, fusion really isn't generating any more energy and the core collapses.
From the other side of things, all elements heavier than iron eventually fission down to iron (though i grant you, it may take a *very* long time, even at cosmological timescales).
Atoms are perceived to be everlasting and timeless. That's technically not *really* the case over the very long term except for iron. This is why, if I ever get married I'm going to request an iron wedding band. If I want a timeless representation of my love I can think of nothing better, than something that will last, (even if only elementally) to the heat death of the universe.
#20
A man named Wilmer McLean owned a farm in Manassas, Virginia USA where the very first battle of the US Civil War was fought. After the battle he's like "I'm outta here" and bought a farm way out in the country at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia...where Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses Grant in McLeans living room four years later
#21
When someone gets a kidney transplant they generally just cram the new one in and don't take out the old ones. So the person ends up with three kidneys.
More eels swim out of the Bermuda Triangle than swim into it
#22
McDonald's engineered bubblegum flavoured broccoli in an attempt to get kids to eat more vegetables.
They still didn't want to eat it.
#23
The Eiffel Tower can be 15 centimeters taller during the summer due to thermal expansion
#26
The raw image we see with our eyes is actually upside down. Our brains subconsciously flip it back to the correct way.
#27
Marriage between pirates were common and where the term Matey comes from. the French word for Matey is “Matelot” or “Matelotage” which was an agreement between two pirates to share their income and even inherit the other’s property in case of death
#28
Medical students commonly learn how to administer pelvic exams by practicing on unconscious patients, often without first obtaining explicit consent from patients to do so. While 21 states currently have laws that require teaching hospitals to obtain consent from patients to participate in this educational experience.
#29
A quarter of the population of Iceland is part Native American because when Lief Ericsson landed in Newfoundland, he brought one Native American woman back with him.
#30
The Atari 2600's release date and the last execution by guillotine happened less than 24 hours apart
#32
Octopuses have a brain in each of their tentacles as well as a main one in their body.
#33
T-Rex is closer to us than Stegosaurus. Curse your sudden yet inevitable betrayal
#35
Male rhesus macaques will pay to see pictures of female monkey butts. Payment is in the form of trading their juice rewards
#37
Bone marrow transplant, it’s possible blood type may change to the donors blood type
#39
Frogs swallow with their eyeballs. They use their eyes to help them push the food down.
#40
A species of frog, the African clawed frog, was the most reliable pregnancy test for a few decades before at-home tests were widely affordable and accessible
#41
A bone “break” is the same as a “fracture.” Fracture is just the medical term. It does not have any correlation with the severity
#43
Cleopatra is closer to the invention of the iPhone than the building of the Giza pyramids
What do you think ?
DB 1 year ago
At least nobody did the "It's a law that pickles have to bounce in Connecticut" one, which is a total myth, by the way.
Cloakred_Is_Bored 1 year ago
As a resident of Connecticut I can confirm that my pickles do not bounce
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GB 1 year ago
Fun fact: The digits in all multiples of 9 add up to 9. For example: 9x7=63 6+3=9 / 9x128=1152 1+1+5+2=9
BlueBlazer999 1 year ago
99? 9+9 does not equal 9. This trick only works up to 9x10.
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Jaybird3939 1 year ago
My favorite is neither icky or weird: Moose antlers can grow up to an inch a day. See? No ick.
DB 1 year ago
At least nobody did the "It's a law that pickles have to bounce in Connecticut" one, which is a total myth, by the way.
Cloakred_Is_Bored 1 year ago
As a resident of Connecticut I can confirm that my pickles do not bounce
Load More Replies... GB 1 year ago
Fun fact: The digits in all multiples of 9 add up to 9. For example: 9x7=63 6+3=9 / 9x128=1152 1+1+5+2=9
BlueBlazer999 1 year ago
99? 9+9 does not equal 9. This trick only works up to 9x10.
Load More Replies... Jaybird3939 1 year ago
My favorite is neither icky or weird: Moose antlers can grow up to an inch a day. See? No ick.
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